Charmed
by seahorses
Summary: Santana loses her charm bracelet and as she retraces her steps to find it she relives the moments with Brittany that led to each charm.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Santana couldn't believe that she had lost it. It was so…irresponsible of her. Santana Lopez didn't do irresponsible. She sat at her desk, head in her hands, practically pulling out her hair.

"This is so not productive," she said aloud to herself after a few more minutes of sitting frozen at her desk. She reached into the top right drawer and pulled out her leather day planner and turned to today's date, September 17, 2024. Cycling class at 8, meeting with a new writer whose screenplay was being adapted at 11, lunch with Quinn Fabray at 12:30, staff meeting at 2, meeting with a development executive at Fox at 3:30. She realized that the only way she was going to find the bracelet was retracing all of her steps since she woke up that morning. She grabbed her briefcase and headed out of the office towards her car. She crossed her fingers that Brittany wasn't going to be home from rehearsal yet.

After a minor battle with traffic on the 101, Santana finally parked her little silver Beemer in the driveway. Thankfully, Brittany's car wasn't parked in her space yet, so Santana knew she was in the clear, at least for a bit. She walked into her house and threw her keys into the duck bowl by the door. Santana loved her and Brittany's house. They bought it a few years ago after Santana passed the bar and was hired at her first law firm. It was Brittany's dream house; nestled in the hills with a beautiful view of the Hollywood sign. Santana didn't really care about what their house looked like, but the look in Brittany's eyes when she first saw this place made it her dream house as well. She went into her bedroom and tried to remember what exactly had happened that morning.

* * *

Santana groaned as the music on her alarm clock began at 7am. She had somehow managed to sleep through the other stages of the easy wake alarm clock Brittany bought her when they were in high school. She rolled over and was surprised to see her blond not in the bed next to her. She sat up and threw a robe on. She peeked in the bathroom—empty. She walked down the hall and checked the office, then the spare bedroom, and finally made her way to the kitchen. Brittany was barefoot on the Spanish tile floor, but fully clothed otherwise in cutoffs and a black tank top. She was leaning over a frying pan, which was not a sight Santana was accustomed to seeing. Santana slipped behind her and wrapped her arms tightly around Brittany's waist and placed a long, soft kiss on Brittany's cheek.

"What are you doing, babe? It smells delicious," Santana asked her wife.

"You surprised me, San," Brittany said, turning around looking deeply into Santana's dark brown eyes. She placed a light peck on Santana's lips. "And what does it look like I'm doing? I'm cooking breakfast!"

"I can see that, B, but since when do you cook breakfast?"

"Quinn taught me how to make your favorite," Brittany said, "eggs in the hole!"

"Impressive," Santana said, still holding Brittany tightly to her, "what's the special occasion?"

"Nothing," Brittany said, "just wanted to do something nice for my beautiful wife." She kissed Santana on the nose and turned back to her cooking.

"Well I have to go get ready, but I'm excited for the rare privilege of eating your cooking," she said with a smirk and she headed to the bathroom.

"Ok," Brittany said, staring intently at the food, "but make it quick, breakfast is almost ready!"

Santana showered faster than she ever remembered, excited to get back to her wife before a long and busy day. She just threw on her gym clothes; she would have to shower and change at the gym anyway, no point in changing twice. When she got back out to the kitchen, Brittany was putting some flowers in a vase and the table was laid out with Eggs in the Hole, bacon, and fresh cut fruit.

"Seriously, baby, what's the special occasion?" Santana asked. Brittany just beamed at her and pulled out her chair. They talked about their schedule for the day and Santana downed three cups of coffee.

"I wish we could stay like this all day," Santana said as she loaded some dishes into the dishwasher, "but I really should get to the gym."

"I know, baby," Brittany said, standing at the counter next to Santana with a cup of coffee in her hand. Santana grabbed her gym bag, her briefcase, and her recently dry-cleaned suit and walked towards the door. Brittany followed her. "What time are you going to be home from work?"

"Probably around seven," Santana said.

"Promise you'll be here for dinner?"

"I promise," Santana replied, looking at her wife with curiosity. "Seriously, Brit, what's going on?"

"Nothing!" Brittany replied, beaming again. "Have a good day." She placed a long kiss on Santana's lips, pulling her head tightly to her with the hand not holding the coffee. "I love you!" With that, she skipped down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Love you too, B." Santana said, heading out the door.

* * *

Santana couldn't remember if she woke up with the bracelet on. She checked the bathroom, in case she had worn it to sleep the night before, she would have left it on the counter when she showered. It wasn't there. She checked her bedside table, and around the chair where she sat when they ate breakfast that morning. She checked in between the couch cushions since they had watched a movie the night before and she emptied out the laundry basket. When she was finished, the apartment certifiably looked like a hurricane had swept through it. She quickly straightened up a bit, just to keep Brittany from questioning and ran out to her car. She had to get to the gym.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading! Please review!


	2. Chapter 2: The Heart

**Author's Note: **Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!

* * *

The traffic today was unreal. There must have been some event going on, because she had been stuck on Hollywood and Highland for twenty minutes. She had already flipped the bird four times, and had gotten in a screaming match with a douchebag in the next lane in an obnoxious black Escalade. She rested her head on the steering wheel, feeling defeated by the traffic and her own stupidity.

"How could I have done this?" She said aloud. She had promised when she first put the bracelet on to keep it with her always, and now, super-responsible, always has her shit together, Santana Lopez, had lost it after 18 years. This might even be worse than if she lost her wedding ring. She remembered the look in Brittany's face when she first put on the bracelet; she knew she was going to be in trouble if she didn't find it soon.

* * *

Santana was standing at her locker, trying to determine which books she was going to need for the first two periods of the day. She was doing her best to maintain the faultless scowl that she had been working on perfecting for the last 12 years of her life. Usually the scowl was reserved for when someone did something to hurt Brittany, but the last couple of weeks she'd kept it on just so that people would leave her alone. She wasn't sure why, but she was angry, confused, and just really didn't want to talk to anyone. Basically, she was a 12 year-old-girl. She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard slow footsteps approaching her from behind and felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. So much for the perfect scowl.

"Hey, San." Her whole body relaxed and she flipped around when she realized who it was.

"Hey, Brit." Brittany was clutching her books tightly to her chest.

"Do you want to hang out after school?"

"I'm supposed to go over to Noah's after school, Brit. I'm sorry." Santana's face dropped when she saw the sadness in Brittany's eyes.

"Oh. Well, if you have anytime this week I kind of wanted to go see the ducks. It's never as much fun when you're not there." Brittany half-smiled. "Call me, maybe, when you have time." Brittany turned to walk towards the bathroom, but before she could get very far, Santana grabbed her wrist and turned her around so that they were facing each other.

"Fuck it, Brit. Noah's dumb. I'd love to go to the park with you." Brittany jumped up and down and nearly squealed. She placed a soft kiss on Santana's cheek. Santana felt the blood rush to her face. That feeling of confusion and fear that was making her so angry these days began to collect in the pit of her stomach.

"I'll meet you here after school then!" Brittany flashed Santana her usual giant grin and then practically skipped away. All she needed was that smile. One glimpse at it and that anger that was building up inside of her melted away.

Santana turned to walk down the hall towards health class. She had never been so confused in her young life. Up until now, things had been so easy. She took care of Brittany, and Brittany took care of her. In different ways, certainly, but somehow she knew that the two of them couldn't exist without each other, and no one was ever able to get between them. That was until two weeks ago at their first school dance. When no one invited either Santana or Brittany, Santana was secretly relieved that they could just spend the time together without any stupid boys. Their friend Quinn was obsessed with boys and Santana was tired of hearing her talk about it. Everything was fine until Noah Puckerman asked her to dance during a slow song and she knew that she was supposed to want to, so she agreed to dance with him, and even let him kiss her at the end of the night. Now he said she was his girlfriend and made him spend all of her time with him. Quinn wouldn't stop talking about it and didn't understand why being Noah's girlfriend seemed to just make Santana withdrawn and mean. To be honest, Santana didn't understand why either.

After school they walked with pinkies linked towards the park to feed the ducks. After Brittany ran out of bread, they laid down in the grass next to the pond. Brittany grasped hold of Santana's pinky.

"I miss you, San," she said, timidly.

"You too, Brit." They sat in silence for awhile. "I'm sorry that I've been spending so much time hanging out with Noah. It's not nearly as fun as spending time with you." Brittany didn't say anything.

"I got you a present. I bought it at the mall with my mom. I was sad because I thought you were mad at me and that's why you were spending so much time with Noah, but my mom told me that it was just that we were getting older and you had a boyfriend now. She said that you like Noah in a different way than you like me and that's why you were spending so much time with him, but that didn't mean that you didn't like me anymore." Brittany got up and went to her backpack revealing a small, badly wrapped package. Santana sat up and opened it. Inside were two identical charm bracelets, each containing just one silver heart.

"They're beautiful, Brit," Santana said, slipping one of the bracelets on her wrist and handing the other to Brittany.

"Look at the heart, San," Brittany said. She picked up the small silver heart and saw that "S+B" was inscribed in tiny letters on the back. "This way, even when you're with a boy that you like better than me, it will be like we're still always together—like my heart is always with you." Santana didn't know what to say, so she just rested her head on her friend's shoulder.

"I'll never like a boy more than I like you, Brit."

"Promise you'll wear it forever, just in case?"

"Of course. I promise." They lay back in the grass and Santana snuggled into the side of her friend. She was more confused than ever, but content, at least for the moment.


	3. Chapter 3: The Megaphone

**A/N:** Thanks again for all the reviews! I hope you like this chapter. Also, this story takes place in the universe of my other story, _Summer Memories_. You don't need to read it to understand what is going on, but obviously I always love more readers!

* * *

The parking garage was like a war zone, but eventually Santana found a space and headed into the gym. She decided that it would be the most efficient if she first checked at the front desk to see if anyone had turned anything in during the day. She groaned internally as she saw the woman standing at the front counter.

**6 months earlier**

"Santana, mother-fucking, Lopez." Santana looked up from the text she was sending as she walked into the gym and stood face to face with a blond who looked about her age.

"Um…can I help you?" She asked the woman smirking behind the counter. Santana's face contorted as she sorted through her internal rolodex.

"You don't remember me, do you?" The woman leaned over the counter, her hands dipping over to the other side. "Jenny Tyler, we went to cheerleading camp in Florida when we were in High School," Santana's scowl deepened. She had found, in the twelve years since High School, that for the most part it was easier to put her High School mean girl face back on before people began regaling her with tales of her teenage cruelty. " I was in the dorm room next to you and…" The woman's forehead wrinkled as she tried to recall the name.

"Brittany. Brittany Pierce." Santana interjected.

"That's right! Oh my God. You guys were, well, 'going through a phase', as my mother would say," the woman chuckled to herself and Santana wondered how long she could take this before she felt the need to claw this woman's eyes out. "You provided the nighttime entertainment for the entire hall."

"Great," Santana said, fishing through her bag for her gym card.

"You know, you're just as hot as I remember you at 15." Santana looked up. Was this woman _flirting_ with her? They locked eyes and the blond blushed. "You know, I always secretly wished that I had been roomed with you instead of that girl—"

"Brittany Pierce," Santana interjected again.

"Right. You were always so…badass with everybody, but I would catch you looking at her with so much adoration…" the woman sighed, "puppy love. I guess that's what it was."

Santana had never before been so desperate to find her gym card.

"So, did you end up staying in touch with that girl…"

"Brittany Pierce. Well, now it's Brittany Pierce-Lopez," Santana said, sighing with relief as she found the card and presented it to the woman. The woman looked intently at the Gym Membership Card.

"Santana Pierce-Lopez," she said, under her breath, obviously thinking to herself. "Oh my God," she said, obviously a little stunned, her face turning a bright red. "I'm really embarrassed," she looked apologetically at Santana.

"Don't worry about it. I'll tell Brittany you said hello. What did you say your name was?"

"Jenny Tyler," she replied, obviously a little hurt. "Have a nice workout, Santana."

* * *

Santana had been avoiding her ever since, but she knew that she was going to have to talk to her now, getting the bracelet back was worth her embarrassment. She approached the front desk.

"Hi…"

"Jenny. Jenny Tyler," the blond responded. "How can I help you today, Mrs. Pierce-Lopez?" There was a glint in her eye when she said Santana's name.

"I was here this morning, and I think I may have left my bracelet here. It's a charm bracelet, there's a heart with the initials S+B engraved on the back and—"

"a megaphone that says 'cheerleader' on it…"

Santana looked at the woman with shock. "Were you stalking me or something?"

The woman just laughed. "Of course not. I was there the day Brittany bought it for you. Some of the girls made fun of her because we were too old at 15 to still be wearing charm bracelets," she blushed realizing that Santana must still wear the bracelet if she were looking for it here. "Let me take a look in the lost and found." She pulled out a box from behind the counter and started sifting through it. "Nothing here, unfortunately."

Santana's face fell. "Ok, well I think I'm going to take a look around, if that's alright."

"Of course," she said, as Santana turned to walk into the gym, "nice seeing you again, Santana."

* * *

"Can you believe we get to share a room for a whole month?" Brittany squealed, jumping into Santana's arms.

"I know, it's amazing," Santana said, returning her friend's hug and pulling her tightly to her. Their mothers' had just left after getting the girls' unpacked and setup for their month at cheerleading camp in Florida.

The first week of cheerleading camp was harder than either of them expected. In retrospect, Santana didn't know why they didn't just assume that spending 10 hours a day with Sue Sylvester was automatically going to be hell, but at least they were together, and at least she got to wake up next to Brittany everyday. The other girls were nice enough, but to be honest, Santana never really noticed anyone else when she was with Brittany, which, right now, was all the time. It didn't even really bother her that they barely got any real time to hang out because they were both always so dead tired by the time they curled up into the twin bed they'd been sharing all week.

It was Saturday and Santana had never been so relieved. Sunday was their day off and the campers were free to do whatever they wanted to prepare their bodies for another grueling week. They were lying in their tiny twin bed, Santana curled into Brittany and Brittany playing with Santana's long, dark hair. There was a light knock on the door.

"Come in!" Santana yelled, as the two girls jumped up to sit on opposite sides of Brittany's bed. Quinn opened the door and walked in.

"Good God…" she said, taking inventory of the room. It looked like a cheerleader had exploded. There were uniforms everywhere. It literally looked like the carpet was made of cheerleading uniforms.

"What happened in here?" Brittany just looked back at Quinn blankly, and Santana looked mildly embarrassed.

"It's a mess. And why do you have all of these uniforms?"

"Our moms' know that we hate doing laundry," Santana said, visibly a little embarrassed by the state of their room, "so they made sure that we both had enough uniforms to last us the entire week…which I guess means that I have to do laundry tomorrow…"

"I can help, San," Brittany said quietly.

"I think I can handle it, B," Santana replied, laughing to herself as she thought back to the one time she remembered Brittany doing laundry. She put the entire bottle of detergent in the washing machine and the laundry room had overflowed with giant suds. When Brittany's mother came home, she found the girls playing in it. It took them three days to clean up the mess.

"You're so weird," Quinn said, "you can't bother to wash your clothes, or even, say, put them in that easily accessible laundry basket," Quinn said, gesturing to the empty laundry basket in the corner, "yet somehow have the time to make your bed up to military standards?" She said looking over at Santana and gesturing to her perfectly made bed.

"No, Santana just hasn't slept in her bed," Brittany deadpanned. Quinn raised one eyebrow and then sat down on Santana's bed.

"God, you guys are such lesbians."

"Fuck you, Fabray. Can you at least tell us why you're gracing us with your presence this evening?"

"Well, I came to tell you that a couple of the girls on the second floor are having a party tonight, since we don't have to go through hell with Coach Sylvester tomorrow. They figured out a way to sneak the boys from the soccer camp in here…that is if you can pull yourselves out of your sex den for long enough to join us…"

"That's it, Fabray," Santana shouted, jumping up and tackling Quinn on to the bed.

"Let me up, Santana! I think you're confusing your blonds!" Quinn yelled, struggling beneath Santana.

"Not until you promise to not make anymore lesbian jokes."

"Ok, ok, I promise, just get off of me!" Santana sat up, releasing Quinn, and straightened out her uniform. "I got you off so easily, I bet Britt can't get you off that fast," Quinn said, running towards the door before Santana could tackle her again. Brittany looked confused. "I'm going to go get ready, but I'll come back down here when I'm done and we can go together," she said matter-of-factly, and turned and walked down the hall.

"Yay! A party!" Brittany squealed, and then she got up to look through the clothes in her closet.

Santana sat down in front of the mirror to start putting her makeup on. She hated when Quinn made fun of her and Brittany. She wasn't sure why, she knew that Quinn was just joking, but for some reason it really struck a nerve with her. Sure, they made out once and awhile, but never anything more than that, and all girls did that with their best friends, right?

* * *

It was midnight and Santana was already bored of the boy who had been talking to her for the last thirty minutes. She looked at her drink and was relieved to see that it was nearly empty, meaning she'd have an excuse to leave and get another drink. She downed it in one gulp.

"Sorry, I'm going to go get something else to drink," Santana turned to leave.

"I'll come with you!" The boy said, a little bit like a puppy dog.

"Look," Santana said, turning to face him, "you're hot and all, but you're boring me. Like _really_ boring me. Now I'm going to go get a drink, please don't bother following me." Santana walked out of the room towards the room with the alcohol. She walked in and quickly poured herself a stiff drink; it looked like the booze was running out and she didn't want to be left high and dry. It was pretty much ¾ of a cup full of rum and a dash of diet coke. There was music coming from the room next door, so she decided to see if there was anything more interesting going on in there.

Santana took a big swig of her rum and diet coke when she entered the room; there was a black light on and everyone was dancing like crazy in the tiny dorm room. She took a second swig when she saw Brittany, in the middle, grinding on a one of the soccer players.

"SANTANA!" Brittany squealed excitedly when she saw her friend lurking in the corner. "Come dance with me!"

Santana walked over to Brittany who had all but forgotten about her new friend on the soccer team. "Where have you been?"

"Just talking to some boy in the other room," Santana said, handing Brittany her drink. Brittany took a big swig.

"Jesus, San," she said, her face scrunching up as the strong drink hit her throat. Santana's face flushed, embarrassed for some reason by how strong she had made the drink. "Come dance with me?" Brittany asked, grasping both of Santana's hands in her own.

Brittany resumed dancing in the middle of the room, and for the most part, Santana just watched her. Slowly, she moved closer to her friend, so that they were obviously dancing together, but still without allowing their bodies to touch. Brittany grasped Santana's hand in her own and turned so that her back was facing Santana and she placed Santana's hand upon her hip. Brittany whipped her hair around and Santana couldn't help but take in the smell of vanilla that somehow always seemed to accompany Brittany. The heat was rising throughout Santana's body and she wasn't sure exactly what to do about it. Even though she was 15 and pretended to be cool about these things, all of these feelings were still new to her. Brittany turned around to face Santana and handed her the drink. There wasn't much left, but Santana finished it in one gulp and threw the cup on the ground. She pulled Brittany closer to her and Brittany slipped her hands on Santana's hips pulling Santana hard on to her leg so that Santana now straddled her thigh. Santana's heart was racing and the tension growing inside her from a combination of the alcohol and Brittany being so close was reaching a boiling point.

"B, we have to get out of here," Santana drunkenly whispered into Brittany's ear. Brittany didn't say anything, she just grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her out the door and downstairs towards their room. She pushed Santana in first and Brittany leaned up against the door of their room. Santana stood a few feet away, facing her, but also trying to cool herself off a bit. It wasn't working.

"I'm sorry, Brit," Santana could feel herself slowly approaching her friend in her drunken haze. "I just had to get out of there…it was getting too…"

"Hot?" Brittany finished Santana's sentence, looping her fingers into Santana's belt loops and pulling her so close to her body that their noses were almost touching. The sensation of Brittany's hot breath against Santana's lips was driving her nuts. They stood there for too long, neither knowing what the next step was, until Santana leaned in and forcefully brought her lips up against Brittany's. They wrestled like that for awhile, feverishly kissing. Santana slipped her leg between Brittany's and grabbed on to her hair, pulling them closer together. Brittany let out a moan, deep and loud and so unlike the girl Santana was so used to spending her time with, and in a fleeting moment Santana knew what she had been missing all these years—that sound of Brittany moaning.

* * *

Tomorrow was the last day of camp. Part of Santana was excited to go home, she missed her family, although she would never admit it to anyone, but the other part of her was unbelievably scared of what life was going to be like in Lima after the summer she and Brittany had spent together. Instead of heading straight back to the dorms to finish packing after the rewards ceremony had ended, Brittany grabbed Santana's pinkie.

"There's something I want to show you," Brittany whispered in Santana's ear. As usually, Santana didn't question and allowed Brittany to lead her towards the campus' main cafeteria. Before Santana realized what was happening, Brittany was climbing the fire escape ladder on the side of the building.

"B! What are you doing? That's is not safe, get down from there!"

"Trust me, San," Brittany said, reaching her arm down towards Santana's. As usual, Santana complied. She really had to learn about this saying no to Brittany thing. When they got to the top of the ladder, Brittany began to walk with the grace of a cat across the slanted roof of the building towards the bell tower. Santana was certainly not doing that. Brittany looked back at her with puppy dogs eyes and grabbed Santana's hand and they walked across the roof and into the bell tower. Santana was glad to be in back of Brittany so she couldn't see her eyes squeezed tightly shut with fear. She didn't open them again until they were safely within the tower.

"What?" Santana said. "There are no bells in here! It's just an Ipod!"

"I know," Brittany said, looking at Santana seriously. "It's the recession," Brittany said, shaking her head. She gestured to the iPod. "This little robot told me that Quasimodo was laid off because they outsourced his job to apple. Although I don't understand how your job can be outsourced to a fruit…" Santana didn't reply, sometimes it wasn't worth trying to understand the things that went through her best friend's head. "I didn't bring you up here though to introduce you to my new robot friend." Brittany led Santana to the front of the tower, revealing a spectacular view of the city.

"It's beautiful up here, Britt."

"I got you this," Brittany said, reaching into her pocket and revealing a small box. She handed it to Santana. Inside was a new charm for the bracelet—a small megaphone with the word cheerleading engraved on the side.

"It's beautiful, Britt." Brittany took out the charm and began to clip it on Santana's wrist.

"I know that when we get back to Lima it can't be like it is now. I know that we can't…be together. But this way, with this charm, you'll always be able to remember all the things that happened this summer at cheerleading camp." Brittany had her eyes down the entire time she spoke. Santana lifted Brittany's chin so that her bright blue eyes were forced to look into Santana's.

"B. I will never, _ever_, forget us this summer." She gave Brittany a soft, but long, kiss on her lips, gently holding her cheek in her hand.

"Promise you'll wear it forever, just in case?"

"Of course. I promise." She pulled Brittany in for another kiss, more passionate this time around. She was more confused than she had been when she was twelve, but she was also more content. Standing there in Brittany's arms, she knew the trade was worth it.


	4. Chapter 4: USC

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait between updates and the incredible length of this chapter! I promise it will be faster from now on, I've just been busy with the holidays!

* * *

Santana was, yet again, in her car. She pulled out her day planner and checked what she had done after the gym. She'd gone to coffee with a client to talk about her book being adapted into a screenplay. She called the restaurant, but they hadn't found anything. It was nearly 5, and Santana knew she was rapidly running out of time; there was no point in her running to the café to look for the bracelet. She glanced down at her planner again, starting her car. 12:30 lunch with Quinn. She had been all over Quinn's house during lunch; it was definitely worth it to check there. She put her car in drive and attached her Bluetooth on her ear, heading onto Sunset.

"Call Quinn Fabray," Santana said into her phone as she sped down Sunset.

"Did you say, 'call Finn Hudson'?" The automated voice asked her.

"NO. Call QUINN FA-BRAY."

"Did you say, 'call Winchell's Donuts?"

"NO," Santana wondered why she even _had_ the number for Winchell's Donuts programmed into her phone. It must have been Brittany's doing, the girl really did love her some donuts. Luckily she reached a light so she picked up the phone and then dialed Quinn's number herself, quickly checking around to make sure there were no cops to view her illegal activity and securing her Bluetooth in her ear.

"Hey, S, what's going on? Didn't get enough of me already today?"

"Funny, Fabray. I'm coming over."

"What? You're coming over?" Quinn glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was 5 o'clock, and she was cooking dinner, she really didn't have time for company.

"I'm sorry, Q, I know you probably have your hands full, or whatever, this time of day," Santana rolled her eyes. "I just can't find my charm bracelet anywhere so I'm retracting my steps of the day."

"Oh shit. Yeah, definitely come by."

"Thanks so much, Q. I owe you."

Santana pulled up at Quinn's house less than five minutes later.

"That was fast," Quinn said as she opened the door, wiping her hands on her apron.

"I was already on my way when I called—" Santana was interrupted with a squeal and the sound of feet running down the hall.

"Aunt Santana!" The miniature Quinn reached her and jumped into Santana's arms. She ruffled the little girl's hair.

"Hey, little Bean, how's it going?"

"Good," the little girl replied. "Hey, Lily! Guess what, Aunt Santana's here!" As she yelled the sound of a baby crying filled the house and Lily turned the corner, dragging behind her a sobbing Harper.

"I already saw Aunt Santana today," Lily bragged to Hannah as Santana put her down. Lily walked straight over to Quinn, "here you go mom, maybe _you_ can make Harper stop crying. Good job waking the baby, Hannah," Lily said to her older sister, sticking her tongue out. Quinn picked the toddler up off the ground, and she immediately curled into her mother's side and the crying ceased.

"Do you mind coming into the kitchen, S?" Quinn asked. "I'm kind of in the middle of cooking dinner." Quinn turned towards the kitchen and Santana took a brief moment away from her stress to think about how funny it was to see Quinn with these three little girls who were literally spitting images of her. As they walked down the hall, Hannah grabbed Santana's hand.

"Where's Aunt B?" Hannah asked. So much for forgetting about her stress for a moment.

"She's still at rehearsal. How's 1st grade going, Hannah-bean?"

"It's good! I have homework now, which sucks—"

"Language, Hannah." Quinn called over to her.

"I didn't know 'suck' was a bad word," Santana whispered over to Hannah.

"It's not, my mom's just crazy," Hannah said, giggling.

"Trust me, I know," she nodded her head knowingly at the girl, who began giggling harder. Santana leaned on the island in Quinn's kitchen.

"I have an idea! Hannah, Lily, how do you feel about playing a game?" Quinn shot Santana a death glare. Santana chose to ignore it. "The game is called 'Find the Charm'! Have you ever seen the charm bracelet that I wear?'

Hannah nodded. "Yeah! It's so pretty! Aunt Brittany wears one too. It has a heart, and a cheerleading thing, and USC, and a bunch of other stuff on it!"

"Yup, that's the one. We're going to play a game where whomever can find Aunt Santana's charm bracelet gets extra ice cream tonight! 1…2…3…go!"

Santana looked up at Quinn.

"I'm actually going to punch you in the face, Santana. Hannah has homework, and neither of them were going to get ice cream. They'll be up all night!"

"Two nights of free babysitting, Q. Just please, I need help."

"I cannot _wait_ until you have kids…payback's a bitch."

Santana couldn't help but smirk at the fact that Quinn covered her two-year-olds ears when she said bitch.

"We have to retrace my steps from the moment I walked in the door this afternoon. If I don't find that bracelet, B is going to kill me. Or leave me." Quinn smirked.

"She'll never leave you, especially over a bracelet, Santana. Are you crazy?"

"Maybe, but that's still not a risk I'm willing to take."

"Ok, let's try retracing your steps," Quinn said, chopping up some carrots, "you got here at 12:45 and rang the doorbell at least five times…"

* * *

"Thanks for finally letting me in, Q."

"Thanks for being 15 minutes late, S."

"I'm sorry, but _some_ of us didn't have the luxury of marrying a professional NFL player and getting to stay at home all day."

"I'm sorry, but _some_ of us have three kids, which is just as much work as having a full time job."

"One of whom, I believe, is in school all day?"

"Still," Quinn paused, "toddler and a four-year old. Handful."

"Where the hell are the little brats, anyways?" Santana asked. As if on cue, Lily came bounding around the corner and jumped into Santana's arms.

"AUNT SANTANA!" Santana winced at the screaming directly in her ear. She gently tousled the hair of the little girl now in her arms.

"Lily!" Quinn said, "You were supposed to be watching your sister."

"Oh, she's fine, she's just playing—" At that Quinn went running around the corner and Santana and Lily followed.

"Oooh," Santana said, "you're in trouble…" tickling the little girl. Lily jumped down from Santana, unable to take the torture.

"Oh, Harper is fine, she can take care of herself." Lily said, flashing Santana a huge grin. Of all of Quinn's children, Lily looked the most like Quinn and it always made Santana a little bit nostalgic. "Aunt Santana, do you want to see my new skateboard?"

Santana looked up at Quinn who had returned to the kitchen with Harper on her side.

"I have a little bit to finish for lunch, so why don't you show her now, Lily. I'll come out when lunch is done." Quinn said.

"See," Santana said, glancing back over her shoulder at her friend while the little girl grasped hold of her hand, "I was late intentionally, Q. I knew you could never have anything done on time." She winked as the little girl lead her out of the door.

Ten minutes later, after watching the mini-Quinn demonstrate her ability to do an ollie at least thirty times, Quinn came out to let them know that lunch was ready. They settled down at the kitchen table, Quinn with baby Harper on her lap and Santana across the table from them. Lily had requested to watch Finding Nemo while she ate and Quinn was more than happy to comply. She desperately needed some adult time.

"So, Q," Santana said, "you do realize you have a mini lesbian on your hands."

"You're crazy," Quinn laughed, "she's four."

"She just showed me her skateboard, talked about how when she grows up she is going to play football like her daddy, and…wait for it," Quinn looked up from her food, "she just met a girl in her preschool who is her best friend and she knows they're going to spend the rest of her lives together." Surprisingly, Quinn laughed.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing she has Aunties' B and S when she's being a pathetic little High School lesbian like you two were and she doesn't know what do with it, and doesn't think she can talk to boring old mom and dad."

"So, when is boring old dad coming back anyways?"

"Three weeks, he's been making time to come back here during the season more often ever since he came home last winter and Harper cried when he tried to hold her."

"God," Santana said, taking a bite of her sandwich, "I never would have thought that you would end up with that silly freshman football player you met our first day of college."

"I never would have thought you would actually end up with that silly cheerleader you met in elementary school," Quinn retorted. Santana just shook her head. She _always _thought that was going to happen. "Besides," Quinn said, "Brittany always knew that Justin and I would end up together.

* * *

"My name is Santana Lopez, I'm from Lima, Ohio, I'm 18, and I'm planning on double majoring in Film Critical Studies and Philosophy, Politics, and Law." Santana threw the ball in her lap over to lanky redhead across from her and returned to responding to Brittany's text message.

"_I'm bored too,"_ Santana typed, _"If I have to play another ice-breaker game, I think I'm going to kill myself."_

"_Pleazzze don't kill yourself! I would be sad __"_

"_I would never. I miss u B."_

"_Miss u too."_

Santana continued to text during the rest of the latest session of mind-numbing "get to know your classmates" games, as they walked as a group towards the auditorium where they would, no doubt, hear another lecture on the dangers of underage drinking, venereal diseases, and the mental health services offered at USC.

"God," Quinn said, after finding Santana in the throng of freshman and taking a seat next to her, "by the amount that you text, you'd think that Brittany had decided to stay in Lima." Santana barely looked up from her phone to glare at Quinn. "You do realize that you will see her in less than two hours now."

"Jealous much?"

"Fuck you, San."

"I talked to some of the older cheerleaders today. They invited me to a party instead of going to that lame-ass end of orientation carnival."

"Cool." Santana said, not looking up from her phone.

"Do you want to go?" Quinn asked, exasperated.

"Let me check with Britt."

"Oh. My. God." Quinn rolled her eyes and proceeded to ignore Santana for the rest of the day.

As soon as their obligations at school were done, Santana hopped in her car and headed over to Brittany's apartment. It was a tiny studio with just one room and a kitchen in the sketchy part of Hollywood, but it was home and Brittany was proud of it. Her parents had agreed to pay for one year in Los Angeles to see if Brittany could make her dream of becoming a dancer a reality. If she couldn't make it work, she was back in Lima to start community college. The first thing Brittany had done after her parents tearful goodbye was make second set of keys for Santana. Well, if she were being honest, the first thing she did was call Santana so they could christen her new Queen size bed.

"Hey, B," Santana said as she walked in the door, throwing her backpack on the small table in the corner. She looked up to find a dejected looking Brittany sitting on her bed with her chin on her knees watching the traffic on the freeway whiz by. "Baby, what's wrong?" Santana rushed over and wrapped her arms and legs around her girlfriend's back, resting her head on her shoulder.

"I'm never going to get a job," Brittany said, completely deadpan, "I'm not as good as these LA dancers. Then my parents are going to make me move back to Lima, and you're going to fall in love with a hot USC cheerleader and leave me forever."

"Brittany. Turn around." Brittany scooched around so she was facing her girlfriend. "I will never, _ever_, leave you. Do you understand that? You've only been here for two weeks, I know that you're the best dancer in LA and any director who doesn't realize that doesn't deserve to have you." Brittany nodded, still looking a little sad. "What do you say we go and have a little fun tonight? I think Quinn mentioned that there was going to be a party or something with some of the cheerleaders. Do you want to do that?" Santana asked, kissing Brittany on the cheek. Brittany just nodded again. "Ok, how about you get in the shower and I cook us dinner and then we can go."

Four hours, two rounds of sex, dinner, and Santana's excruciatingly long getting ready routine later, and they had finally made it to the party. It definitely was not like any Lima party. The front yard, backyard, and the house was completely packed with unbelievably drunk students. Santana briefly considered turning around because she was so intimidated, but she was quickly met by some of the older cheerleaders.

"Sannntana," a tall brunette shouted, slurring her name as she grabbed her in a tight hug. "You're my favorite frosh. You know why?" She asked, as she took a sip of her beer. "You are like an unbelievable guitarist cheerleader."

"Ignore her," said the blond cheerleader who had followed the brunette's sprint towards Santana. "She's wasted. She has no idea what's going on." She smiled softly at Santana. "You two, however, seem far too sober for your first college party. C'mon." She grabbed Santana's hand and led her into the kitchen.

The way the blond parted the crowd reminded Santana of when Quinn ruled McKinley, on a much larger scale of course. In fact, the three joined at the hip cheerleaders reminded Santana of how she Quinn and Brittany used to be. Lauren, the blond, was the President of the cheerleading squad (they didn't call it "Captain" in college, apparently) and was majoring in Psychology. She had HBIC written all over her, and, to be honest, Santana was surprised she gave her the time of day. Susie was the drunk brunette; she was definitely the ditz of the trio and was majoring in Kinesiology. The third girl of the trio rarely talked. Her name was Sasha, and she reminded Santana of Naomi Campbell, both in her looks, and in her attitude. She was majoring in African-American Studies and Politics, Philosophy, and Law, like Santana. Ever though the older girls were just in their Sophomore year, in Santana's Freshman head they seemed incredibly intimidating.

Santana was growing more nervous the longer she hung out with them. She texted Quinn to try to get her to find their location, but she was still waiting to hear back from her. None of the girls had really said anything to Brittany, which made Santana even more uncomfortable. She was dreading the prospect of being forced back into the closet after all the work she had done in high school coming out just so she could fit in with this new group of girls.

"FABRAYYY," yelled Susie, beckoning Quinn over to the group who had been awkwardly talking next to the keg. Quinn came sauntering over, clearly a little drunk.

"Let me get you a drink," said Lauren, pulling a red Solo cup from the pile and beginning to fill it with cheap keg beer.

"Yo. Yo. Yo." Susie started to say over and over.

"Yo. Suze," Sasha said, rolling her eyes, "spit it out."

"Sorry," Susie apologize, turning a little bit pink, "it's just…I'm drunker than everyone else, and it's not fair! Drink some real alcohol! Put some hair on your chests!" At the last remark, Susie and Brittany broke down in a fit of giggles. Sasha walked away and returned not moments later with a stack of shot glasses and a bottle of vodka.

"Suze is right. We need to loosen up a bit. Show these frosh what college is really about."

"I shouldn't," Santana said, "I have to drive Brittany back to her apartment tonight." Quinn raised her eyebrow and Lauren noticed the gesture.

"No worries," Lauren said, "we live close to here, you guys can crash. We have plenty of space."

"Done. Little guitarist, blond girl, other blond girl, you are now officially being peer-pressured into vodka shots," said Sasha with a smirk.

After the two shots, Santana was definitely feeling a little bit of a buzz and was starting to loosen up a bit. Sasha cut them off at two saying that she didn't want to spend the night holding back the hair extensions of some frosh, she was trying to get her mack on. Santana could _definitely_ be friends with this girl.

"So…" Lauren said, cutting off Sasha's rant, "speaking of getting your mack on, do you see any guys here you want us to introduce you to?"

Quinn immediately gestured over to an awkward looking boy playing beer pong.

"He was talking to me earlier. He's kind of cute."

"Ugh, Justin," said Susie, exasperated, "he's adorable. I had some Gen Ed classes with him last year, but he's picky. I can't believe he talked to you."

"Ok, Fabray," said Lauren, "we're going to make it happen. What about you, Santana? And you…"

"Brittany," Brittany said quietly, under her breath. Santana looked at her girlfriend's sad eyes. She knew that Brittany was preparing to be pushed under the rug again. Santana didn't know what to do; her brain was racing rapidly knowing that she had to come up with a response soon. She knew it wasn't fair, after all that she had put Brittany through to closet them again. They had spent their senior year being open about their relationship, hell, Brittany had come to LA so that she could be with Santana, but if she told these cheerleaders that she was gay, it might be the end of her college career.

"Actually, I'm in a relationship," Santana said, matter-of-fact. Brittany looked at her feet again. Quinn glared at Santana, clearly not wanting to go through another round of closeted gay drama.

"Oh," Lauren said, smirking over at Sasha. "Anyone we know?"

"Well, actually…" Santana hated this. She hated feeling powerless, and she hated when her scowl was wiped off her face with the demand, yet again, that she make herself vulnerable to the world because of her sexuality. "Brittany and I, well, you know, well, she's my girlfriend. I'm gay."

"Holla!" Yelled Sasha, a giant grin breaking out across her usually sullen face. "Bitch, you owe me $20!" She said, reaching her hand out to Lauren. Santana, Brittany, and Quinn all stood with their mouths gaping open.

"Fuck." Lauren said simply. "You and your unbelievable gaydar." She rolled her eyes. "You know she had you pegged the moment you walked on the field the first day of the season?" She said to Santana. Santana still had no words to respond. Lauren pulled a twenty out of her pocket and handed it to Sasha.

"So…so like, you're cool with it?" Santana asked, incredulously.

"Girl, this ain't high school anymore," Sasha said. "Most people here couldn't give a shit, unless they're trying to get in your pants."

"Besides, Sash is probably just happy not to be the resident lez on the cheerleading squad anymore."

"Fuck you, Lauren, you know you like to switch teams once in awhile." Sasha smirked.

"Once! Once in Rosarito! I can barely remember it!"

"Still…"

"Ok. As much as I love rehashing my Spring Break indiscretions, let's prowl. You're right, Sash, I want to get my mack on tonight. Quinn—go talk to your boy, he's been staring at you the entire time we've been over here." Quinn blushed at this admission. Sasha poured one more round of shots for the girls and then took her bottle of vodka (her baby, as she was now calling it) and they led Quinn over to Justin and then set off on their prowl.

"I can't believe you did that," Brittany said, looking wide-eyed into Santana's eyes.

"I couldn't go back to pretending, B, I love you too much."

"I love you too, San." Brittany leaned in and gave Santana the most passionate kiss she had ever given her.

"LESBIANS!" Shouted a boy walking past. Santana shot up a glare at him, ready to ream him out for his homophobia. "Why'd you stop?" He said, noticing Santana's death glare, "Get it gurrrl!" and walked away.

"I think I'm going to like college," Santana said pulling Brittany in for another kiss.

Brittany and Santana pretty much stayed like that all night, making out and then taking shots whenever a, now wasted, Sasha would walk by. Once the LAPD came and broke the party up, the five women walked back towards the house they'd be staying the night at. Sasha and Susie were both so drunk they immediately just dropped into bed, and Lauren pulled out the futon for Santana and Brittany and put some blankets on the couch for Quinn.

"I'm assuming you don't want to share with the lovebirds over there," she gestured to Santana and Brittany, already making out in the futon.

"Unfortunately, I'm used to it, although I do appreciate not having to share with them."

"Ok," Lauren said, "goodnight frosh. And no sex on my futon!"

Santana and Brittany kissed for a little bit longer before Brittany noticed that Quinn had been furiously texting since they had arrived at the house.

"Who you texting, Q?" Santana asked.

"Justin," Quinn said quietly.

Brittany pulled Santana in tightly so that their noses were touching.

"Shh, San, leave them alone. Did you seem them tonight? They're going to be together forever, just like us." She placed a chaste kiss to Santana's lips, and they both fell asleep.

* * *

"Ok, so what did we do after we finished eating lunch?" Santana asked Quinn after she searched around the kitchen nook where they had eaten.

"Let's see," Quinn said, "Brittany called you to confirm that you would absolutely, under no uncertain terms, be home for dinner at seven, and then she told you to find our alumni magazine to see an article about Sasha Johnson's career as a High School cheerleading coach and how her team was poised to beat McKinley for the second year running."  
"That's right!" Santana exclaimed, "so we went out on the patio and read about Sasha's randomly phenomenal career."

* * *

Santana had done it. She had graduated college and had been accepted into the USC Gould School of Law. Brittany had gotten consistent work as a dancer both in music videos and TV shows and the two of them had moved into a loft downtown Santana's junior year of college. She looked around the rooftop pool as their close friends and family awkwardly mingled with each other. Quinn's mom was there, Santana's and Brittany's parents had flown in from Ohio as well. Puck showed up, since he had started acting in some small films and had relocated to Los Angeles. Justin and his family were there as well as Santana's friends from four years cheering on the Trojans.

"Hey, little sister." Sasha sidled up beside her.

"Hey, big sis." Santana nudged the girl who had gone on to become one of her best friends in college.

"I'm so proud of you, you know that? God, when I came to college I was nowhere near ready to do what you did, to admit to the world who I was."

"You know it was just Britt's puppy dog eyes that made me do it."

"Of course I know. I just thought you should know that I have always admired you for the balls you showed that day. Don't you ever forget it." Santana nodded. They sat in silence for a little while.

"I also wanted to let you know that I accepted that job with that High School in Kentucky. I'm going to go be a cheerleading coach. You know, cheering is what I do best."

"I know. I'm gonna miss you, Sash."

"You too, my little guitarist."

Three hours later, and the roof of their building had finally cleared out. Santana and Brittany had finished taking the last of the trash out and storing the leftovers from the barbeque.

"Hey, San," Brittany said, as they did one last scope of the public roof they had their party on, to make sure they didn't leave any trash for someone else to deal with later. "I didn't give you my graduation present." Santana walked over to Brittany who was leaning over the ledge, looking out at the light brightening the Los Angeles sky.

"This kind of reminds me of the view from that scary bell tower you brought me to when we were 15. Although this is prettier," Santana said, pulling Brittany in for a kiss. Brittany pulled away and took a small box out of her pocket and handed it to Santana. Inside was a small charm, just saying USC.

"I don't understand, Britt. I thought the charms were about experiences we went through together. Milestones in our relationship."

"This was a milestone in our relationship, San. When's the last time you called me your 'friend' to a stranger? When's the last time you were uncomfortable walking down the street holding my hand?" Santana looked at the ground, grasping both of Brittany's hands in her own. "Look at me, San," she said, lifting Santana's chin so that they were making eye contact. "You don't remember, because it hasn't happened in so long. You finally, fully came out and accepted us as a couple. This charm is so that you never forget that experience that allowed you to truly be yourself, and allowed us to truly be a couple, no matter what the judgment might be."

"Brittany, I'll never forget how good it feels to be complete out in the open about my relationship with you."

"Promise you'll wear it, just in case?"

"Of course, B. I'll wear it forever. I love you."

"I love you too, San."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Daisy

**Author's Note:** Thank you, everyone for your wonderful reviews! I really appreciate it. This chapter was extremely difficult for me to write because it is _so_ fluffy and I tend to be more of a sarcastic Santana type, but I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Girls, come say goodbye to Aunt Santana!" Quinn yelled from the doorway, shifting Harper from her right to her left hip. The barreling of young girls echoed through the hall. Lily jumped up into Santana's arms and Hannah grasped Santana around the waist. Santana kissed the top of both girls' heads.

"Bye, my Hannah-banana, bye bug," she said to the little girls.

"Sorry about your bracelet, Aunt San," Hannah said, looking up at her with bright blue eyes.

"No worries, little bean," she said tousling the girl's hair. She gently dropped Lily off on the ground. "Thanks, Q," she said, turning out the door. Quinn quickly reached out a grabbed Santana's hand.

"Don't worry, S, I'm sure it's going to be fine. Where's your next stop?"

"Well, I had a staff meeting after I left here, but I'm pretty sure I turned the office upside-down, so I guess I'm just going to head over to Paramount, I had a meeting with someone at Fox over there right before I realized my bracelet was missing."

"Ok, well, good luck, S. Try to calm down a bit. And give me a call tomorrow, ok?"

"Of course, Q. Thanks so much for being here." Santana turned and walked towards her car. She stopped halfway down the path, and walked back towards Quinn's door.

"What's up, San?" Quinn looked at her, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, and then a little suspicion, noticing Santana's smirk.

"I almost forgot," Santana said, gripping the doorframe and leaning her head into the house, "Bean, Bug, get back here!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The girls came running down the hall. "I can't believe I almost forgot," she said, placing a hand on Hannah's head, "for all your hard work, you _both_ get extra ice cream tonight!" She lightly jogged away from the house as the little girls squealed.

"Santana Pierce-Lopez, you wait! I'm going to get you back for this," Quinn yelled as Santana hopped in her car and sped off. Surprisingly there was very little traffic on Melrose so she made it over to Paramount in record time and had no trouble getting on to the lot. She searched the room she had her meeting in, but it had been swept clean. She sat down in the parking lot and pulled out her phone.

"Puckerman! Thank god you answered your phone!"

"Two times in one day? I knew you'd come crawling back to me…you just needed to be reminded of the Puckzilla's charm with the ladies." Santana chose to ignore him. She was rapidly running out of time.

"Puck, did you see if I was wearing my charm bracelet today?"

"I didn't notice it, which makes me think you weren't wearing it. But let's be real, it's never your wrists that I'm paying attention to…"

"Ugh, Puck, you're never going to change!"

"Like you'd want me to?" Santana just hung up the phone without any sort of warning. He obviously wasn't going to be any help. She walked the path she'd been on when she ran into Puck, standing outside of his trailer.

* * *

Santana was leaving her incredibly unproductive meeting, happy to get back to the office so she could tie up some loose ends and actually get home from work early for once. She knew Brittany would be happy about that since she had been so adamant that they have dinner together tonight. As she headed towards her car, she heard a familiar voice, a voice that appeared to be flirting with a Production Assistant, some intern, probably half his age.

"As I live and breathe…" she yelled out across the lot. "Noah Puckerman." Puck looked up, and when he saw who was approaching him, still looking like a tiny teenager despite her black power suit, a huge grin broke out across his face.

"Mrs. Santana Pierce-Lopez. Goddamn it's good to see a familiar face." He pulled Santana into a tight hug.

"Rough day at work?" She asked.

"You bet. It's nice to see someone from back in the day, you know?" Santana just nodded. "You'll never guess who I ran into?" Santana just raised an eyebrow. "I went with the new PA down to the convenience store at the Water Tower, you know, she just wanted a pack of cigarettes or whatever—" Santana's smirk grew larger. "What? I was being friendly! Anyway, I go down there, and standing in line in front of me is none other than Rachel fucking Berry."

"What? Seriously?" Santana asked, actually surprised at where Puck's story went.

"I swear to God. She's in town because she's up for the film adaptation of Spring Awakening."

God, it has been forever since I've seen her," Santana said, scrunching her forehead in thought, "I don't think I've seen her since the wedding."

"That's impossible," Puck said. "That was four years ago. Even I've seen her more recently than that. I mean, we have the same hometown and she's in LA a fair amount, haven't you even seen her at any industry things?"

"No, I don't think so, Brittany and I have been so busy. Being an adult sucks."

"Truth," Puck said, nodding his head.

"Even when you're a big movie star?" Santana questioned, punching Puck in the shoulder.

"I think it might even suck worse…speaking of…" he gestured over to a skinny young man with a headset on gesturing frantically to him.

"You're needed on set, Mr. Puckerman!"

"I've got to go Santana," he said, leaning down to hug her again. "But call me, please, and if you can't get through to me, call my assistant. Let's get something to eat this week, catch up, you know the drill." With that, Puck jogged off towards the skinny teenager.

Santana shook her head. She simply couldn't believe it had been so long since she had seen Rachel Berry…or Noah Puckerman for that manner…

* * *

Imagine the sound that tires make on a wet road when they skid out of control. Add to that sound the high-pitched squeal of a pig being slaughtered. Now add a layer of infant crying and another layer of the buzz that can sometimes be heard coming off of a television. These sounds were the only way Santana could describe the sound Rachel Berry made as she came into the room as Santana, Quinn, Sasha, and Santana's sister-in-law, Theresa, were busy getting the finishing touches of their hair and makeup done in preparation for the big day. All four women whipped their heads to look at the door.

"Jesus, Berry. Was that really necessary?"

"I am just so excited, Santana!" She paused, inhaling sharply as she looked at Santana in her gown. "You look stunning. I can't wait for Brittany to see you. I can't wait for you to see Brittany. She's…breathtaking. I'm so excited to be a part of this momentous occasion. Who would have thought, back when we were a ragtag group of misfits belting out songs about our deepest hopes and fears and insecurities that we would one day find ourselves celebrating the matrimony of two of our own, having all come so far and having seen our dreams reach fruition—"

"Berry." Santana yelled, "as much as I have always loved your soliloquys, I don't need to know how hot Brittany is looking, Brits and I are always hot. Although I have to say that I'm not the least bit surprised that you've been checking us out." Santana smirked at Rachel who just rolled her eyes. "So, if you could leave us be, I need to finish getting my face on." Santana turned back to the mirror, her scowl slightly softening into a smile as she grew giddy at the thought of seeing her fiancée.

Quinn gave Rachel a soft smile. At some point their senior year at McKinley, Quinn had stopped harboring so much animosity. It was around the time Quinn stopped harboring so much animosity towards Santana and Brittany's relationship. At the time, Santana had always thought that the two events had to be related. It was sort of irrelevant now; Quinn was happily married with two children and Berry was working her way through a stream of Broadway costars. Every time she saw that endearing smile break out on Quinn's face in regards to Berry, though, she couldn't help but remember her high school suspicions. Santana shrugged it off. It was probably just lesbians thinking that everyone else must be a lesbian too. Rachel broke the silence.

"I just came in to let you ladies know that Brittany's end of the wedding party is ready to go and that most of the guests seem to have arrived. So…that means you have t-minus 15 minutes before you're expected to be getting ready to walk down the aisle!" Rachel let out one more deafening squeal before leaving the room.

"I can't believe I slept with that girl," Puck said, poking his head out from behind the privacy divider in the corner.

"Right?" Said Quinn, inspiring another eyebrow raise from Santana.

Santana at the end of a path about 10 feet to the left of the altar, holding her father's hand with the grip of a vice knowing that Brittany was on the other end, probably just as nervous. They both wanted to be walked down the aisle by their fathers and to see each other at the same time, so they opted to walk down side aisles instead of the traditional middle aisle. She looked out at the familiar faces in the crowd. Tina and Artie sat together, holding hands. Will and Emma and their three boys. Her college cheerleading friends. Quinn's husband holding their infant daughter. Finn sat with Kurt's boyfriend and Mercedes. Brittany's mother and Santana's mother on opposite side of the center aisle both looking like it was taking all they had to hold back their tears. The string quartet began the familiar opening notes of Pachelbel's Canon and Quinn's eldest daughter, Hannah, slowly skipped down the middle aisle, tossing handfuls of yellow flower petals on to the ground next to Santana's nephew, Isaac, tightly grasping the wedding rings. Next came Puck and Brittany's sister Erica, followed by Quinn and Rachel, Theresa and Kurt, and finally Sasha and one of Brittany's dancer friends, Erica. The music slowed as the wedding party settled into their places. It was time for her and Brittany to walk down the side aisles where they would meet in the middle. Her father must have sensed her nerves because he tightened the grip on her hand.

"Mija, do not be nervous, today is the first day of the rest of your life. I am so excited, and so proud for you to make Brittany, officially, a member of the Lopez family." He kissed the top of Santana's head.

"Thank you, Papi," Santana said, and they began the procession down the aisle.

It was just a few paces before Santana took sight of Brittany. She wasn't sure that she could go any further, her breath had caught in her throat and her heart raced so fast she worried that she was going to have a heart attack right then and there. Maybe Brittany was right, all those years ago, that heart attacks were just from loving too much. Brittany wore a strapless dress that fit tightly to her body until it reached her hips and flowed loosely to the ground. Her hair was down in soft curls with small flowers in it. Santana couldn't remember how she reached the altar, but all of a sudden her father was kissing her cheek as she stared into Brittany's eyes, already welling with tears. The panic in Santana faded away and her face was plastered with the biggest grin she had ever had, a grin she was unable to take off her face.

The justice of the peace had spoken, and Santana's breath caught, yet again, in her throat as she waited to for Brittany to begin her vows. Santana could sense Brittany's nerves; she reached up and gently stroked Brittany's cheek, silently reassuring her.

"You know, the big secret that Santana doesn't want anyone to know is that she's actually a big softie on the inside," Brittany smiled and Santana blushed. "I think it's what I've always loved the most about you. You keep up this exterior that is so hard, and so tough, hiding the unbelievably caring, generous, loving woman on the inside. You have always made me your number one priority; my happiness has always come before your own, my safety, and my well-being. I promise to spend the rest of my life putting you first, protecting you, even if sometimes it is from yourself, and to make sure that beautiful light that is you is always shining through." Brittany grasped both of Santana's hands. "You are my world, Santana. You are my family. I don't know what I did to deserve you and your love, but I promise to spend my life earning the privilege that I have you in it." She reached down to little Isaac for the ring and gently slipped it on Santana's finger.

"My B," Santana tightened her grasp on Brittany's hands and looked into her eyes, willing with all of her strength to hold off tears for as long as possible. "I would be lying if I didn't say that I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that one day we'd find ourselves in this exact position. Do you remember Kindergarten?" Brittany nodded through her tears. "Everyone wanted to play house all the time, and everyone else would fight about who would be the husband and who would be the wife, but it was always simple for us, we would be wife B and wife S, and Quinn and Puck were our delinquent children." This elicited laughter from the crowd. Quinn gently nudged Puck who was standing next to her. "You have always been my best friend, you have always stood by me, even when the times were darkest and I was the last person anyone would want to be around. You always somehow managed to see the best in me, just like how you see the best in everything in this world. I promise to spend the rest of my life making sure that everything in your world has the sunshine that you bring into it. I promise to take you to see the ducks once a week. I promise to make sure our letters get to Santa on time every year." Brittany blushed and giggled at this, knowing that everyone in the crowd knew that she believed in Santa until an embarrassingly old age. "I promise to spend the rest of my life bringing you the joy you have always brought to me. I love you so much, B, I can't believe that I am so lucky to be allowed the privilege of spending the rest of my life with my best friend, lover, and my soul mate." By the time Santana finished there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Isaac handed her the second ring, which she slipped on to Brittany's hand.

"Do you, Brittany Pierce, take Santana Lopez, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

"I DO!" Brittany squealed.

"And do you Santana Lopez—"

"Of course I do!"

"Then, by the power vested in me by the state of Ohio, I now pronounce you wife and wife! You may kiss the bride!"

"Finally," Santana said under her breath as Brittany squealed. Santana wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and pulled her in for their first married kiss. As the kiss deepened, Brittany reached her hands up to cradle Santana's face. Finally Puck cleared his throat loudly. They broke apart and turned to see their family and friends on their feet, cheering wildly for them, as they headed down the aisle, married.

Puck nudged Quinn and leaned over whispering to her "party time!" Quinn just rolled her eyes.

If there was one thing Brittany and Santana knew how to do, it was throw a party. They hired an amazing band, had an open bar, and made sure to book a space with a massive dance floor. Their parents, Brittany's sister, Santana's brothers, Puck, and Quinn all gave moving toasts. As their friends spoke, Santana and Brittany tried their hardest to not make out, mostly failing in this endeavor. Puck and Finn sang them a song; Santana and Brittany danced, while making out. Quinn got drunk, (this was the first time she'd really been able to drink since giving birth to her second child) tried to get Rachel to dance with her, and then told Santana, Brittany, Finn, Puck and her husband the story of when she and Rachel "experimented" to find out what all the gay-panic in Glee Club was all about. While she spoke, Santana and Brittany made out (mostly, Santana tuned in for parts of this story; she _knew_ something was going on between those two in high school). Puck got too drunk and hit on Brittany's sister, Mercedes, Santana's sister-in-law, before finding Santana's Aunt Rita. That boy still loved his cougars. Santana and Brittany didn't notice though, they were still too busy making out.

It was eleven, and most of the older generation had already gone home, while Brittany and Santana's peers seemed to be in it for the night. Finn and Mike were taking shots by the bar, Artie was spinning Tina around on his wheelchair, and Will and Emma were struggling to wrangle three sleepy boys towards the car. Santana and Brittany were in the corner, making out.

"Some things never change," Quinn said to Mercedes, gesturing to the newlyweds.

"Right?" Mercedes said, "this might as well be one of Puck's old parties. It's cute, though."

"It is," Quinn said. She got up and went over to Santana and Brittany, clearing her throat as she got close.

"Quinn!" Brittany yelped, hugging her tightly. She pulled away, placing her hand around Santana's waist, "this is my wife. My Wife!" She squealed again. Santana's grin still had not faltered from the moment she had seen Brittany at the altar. Quinn wasn't sure it was physically possible for a human to maintain a grin for this long, especially if that human is Santana Lopez.

"Everyone's pretty drunk, you guys, I think you could probably slip away, if you want. I know what your wedding night is like," Quinn winked at Santana.

"Gross, Q. No heterosexual details tonight." As hard as she tried to get her scowl, tonight it was impossible.

"Oh, shut up, Santana. Just go enjoy your wife." Santana quickly grabbed Brittany's hand and led them towards the limo they knew was waiting outside. As they went through the door, Brittany turned around and beamed at Quinn, simply mouthing "wife!"

5 hours later, Brittany was curled into Santana's shoulder on the floor of their kitchen. "I'm cold, San," Brittany murmured into Santana's shoulder.

"Maybe we should put some clothes on," Santana said, kissing the top of her wife's head. "I think we have finished christening every room in the house." Brittany giggled.

"No, I want my first night with my wife to be just like this. I think its like New Years, however you spend it is how you're destined to spend your year. I don't want to take any chances that our marriage will ever involve you in clothes."

"Never," Santana said, shaking her head, seriously.

"You did promise to do whatever you could to make sure there was always joy in my life." Santana laughed heartily at this.

"You're right, I did, B. Nudist marriage it is." They lay there for awhile longer, simply taking each other in. Brittany glanced up at the clock.

"Ugh, we have to leave for the airport in three hours."

"No point in going to sleep, then, I guess," Santana said devilishly, pulling her wife in tighter.

"No, San, wait, I want to give you something before we go!" Brittany jumped up and ran, naked into their bedroom. Santana couldn't help but smile. Brittany returned wrapped in a large, light blue sheet and handed Santana a box. Inside was a charm of a daisy.

"What's this for, Britt?"

"For our wedding. It's a daisy, those are the flowers we decorated with…and the flowers in our hair."

"I know that, B, but you must know that I am never going to forget our wedding…I mean…you already put a ring on it." Santana gestured to the new ring on her left hand.

"Duh, baby. But it's the next step in our journey, so it needed to be documented, just like every other step we've taken." Santana still looked confused. "Just promise me you'll wear it forever, just in case."

"Of course, B, you know I'll wear it forever." Brittany snuggled tighter into Santana, pulling on the sheet so that it covered both of them.

"Can we go to sleep now, S?"

"Ugh, B, it's our wedding night…" Santana protested.

"But we need to be rested! That way we can christen the limo, and the airport, and the plane, and the hotel lobby," Brittany yawned, snuggling into Santana's collarbone and placing a soft kiss on her neck.

"Ok, B," Santana smirked, "I did promise to make you happy the rest of my life." She tightened her arms around her wife. "We'll sleep." It wasn't long before Brittany was softly snoring into Santana's arms. She held up her left arm to admire both her new ring and her new charm before burying her face in her wife's hair and attempting to fall asleep herself. Santana was content; in fact, this might be perfection.


	6. Chapter 6: The Shoes

**Author's Note: **Thanks again for all of your reviews! I'm not the happiest with this chapter, to be honest, but I'll let all of you be the judge. Enjoy!

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Santana pulled her red convertible into the driveway next to Brittany's silver Prius. Brittany always had been so obsessed with protecting the environment. Santana smiled gently at the only bumper sticker on Brittany's car, stating "I Heart Hugs" and felt her chest tighten up again at the prospect of confronting her wife. Santana had never felt nervous to come into her own home before. She pulled down the visor so she could look at herself in the mirror and pushed the button to let the convertible top slide up to cover the top of her car. The stress had made her a little sweaty and her makeup had run down her face from all the crying and her hair was a disaster from all the stress induced pulling at it. She tried to clean herself up a bit, but then decided it was a waste of her time. If Brittany were going to leave her, it wouldn't matter if she looked the hottest she'd ever been or if she looked disheveled. She opened the door to her home and threw her keys in the duck bowl. She almost began crying again, thinking about ducks and Brittany and how badly she had screwed up this time.

"San? You home? I'm in the kitchen," Brittany called from the kitchen. Santana finally noticed the smells wafting through the house. She walked towards her wife's voice. When she saw her, her heart fluttered in her chest. Brittany was wearing a form fitting blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes, covered slightly by a white apron with a big yellow duck on it. The apron had loopholes built in so that it looked like the duck was carrying the kitchen utensils. Brittany, true to form, had tucked a spoon, two spatulas, and a kitchen knife in the loopholes. Her blond hair was down, slightly curled, with bangs that just brushed across the top of her eyes.

"B…what's going on? Are you cooking again? And where did you get that apron?" Santana said, incredulous to the situation unfolding before her. Brittany looked up at Santana with worried eyes.

"Baby, what's wrong?" She pulled Santana to her with a spoon in one hand and kissed the top of her head. Santana could feel herself unraveling and the tears just came with no warning.

"I just had a hard day at work," she cried, as Brittany kissed the tears away.

"I'll make it better, San." She kissed her wife on the lips.

"When did you learn how to cook?" Santana said between sobs.

"Quinn's been teaching me. It's much easier to learn from her than from a recipe." She looked at her wife, who, for the most part, seemed to have pulled herself together. "Dinner is pretty much done, why don't you sit in the dining room and I'll see you in a couple minutes.

Santana went into their bedroom and threw her blazer on the bed. She reapplied her makeup and decided to just tell Brittany outright what had happened. As she made her way to the dining room she passed through their living room and she looked at all the pictures the two had accumulated through the years. There was the picture her abuela had taken of them the night of their seventh grade dance. There was Santana with her arm around Brittany when their parents left them for cheerleading camp, them at their first pride in High School, Brittany was covered in glitter, grinning and squeezing tightly to Santana. There was the year Glee club won Nationals, and High School graduation, and her first day of college. There were pictures of Brittany and Santana holding their nieces and nephews for the first time and Santana's graduation party, Brittany at her first big show, their first apartment, and their wedding day. It was her life. _Their_ life. There was no way Brittany would throw all these memories away over a bracelet. She hoped. She _really_ hoped.

Brittany had lit candles in the dining room and the food was all laid out; it looked beautiful. After they sat down, and began to eat, Brittany finally broke the silence.

"Are you ok? What happened to you today at work?" It was now or never.

"B…I lost my bracelet. I searched everywhere I went today and I just can't find it anywhere. I know I had it yesterday because a client asked about it and I explained all the charms to him and he looked at me like I had lost my mind because I was…you know…nice, but today, well, I just can't find it anywhere. And I love you so much, B, you are my whole world and I know I promised I would always wear it, but, B, please don't leave me." Santana looked down at her food, using everything in her power to keep the tears from falling.

"Santana, look at me." Santana looked up from her plate at Brittany, who surprisingly was looking at her as though she was adorable.

"You're adorable," Brittany said. She leaned behind her chair and picked something up off of the floor. "I was going to wait until after dinner to give you this, but I think it makes more sense to give it to you now." She handed Santana a small box. Santana opened it slowly. Inside was her charm bracelet.

"But when…why?"

"I took it when you were at the gym. I figured your lock would either be my combination or your combination from high school."

"I still don't understand _why _you would have taken it though…" Santana looked at her wife with questioning eyes. "Also, to be honest, I'm a little confused as to why you didn't know your locker combination all though high school, but somehow have managed to remember it ten years later when it's not relevant anymore." Brittany still did not respond. The bracelet did look cleaner than it had before, but if she wanted to get their bracelets polished, she didn't understand why Brittany wouldn't have just told her.

"You still don't get the point of the bracelet, do you, San?"

"What do you mean? I love this bracelet! I wear it everyday! I was a mess today, because I couldn't find the bracelet…"  
"That's not what I mean…what I mean is that you say the same thing to me every time I give you charm, that you will never take it off, because you'll never forget the event that occurred to inspire the charm."

"Right. I will never forget any of those things." Santana didn't understand what Brittany was getting at. Brittany took both of Santana's hands in her own.

"Baby, I know." She picked up the bracelet and began going through the charms with Santana. "I know that you will never forget that you'll always love me more than any boy, and that you'll never forget the first time we had sex, or going to USC or getting married. Just like how I know…" Brittany knelt down and handed the bracelet back to Santana, grasping her free hand in her own. "Just like how I know that you will not forget that we have a child, but I want you to always remember the moment that I told you I was pregnant and the journey it took to get us here."

Santana looked down again at the bracelet; there was a pair of baby slippers hanging right next to her daisy charm.

"I had it custom made, that's why I had to take your bracelet. Remember that test we took three weeks ago that came back negative?" Santana nodded, looking wide-eyed at her wife. "Well I still hadn't gotten my period and was feeling sick pretty much all the time so I went to the doctor. It turns out it was a false negative, San. I'm pregnant."

"You're what?"

"I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

"What?"

"Baby," Brittany said placing her hands on Santana's shoulders, "we're going to have a baby. Pregnancy test. False negative. Pregnant. Baby." Santana finally snapped out of her shock.

"Oh my god, B!" She pulled Brittany up and pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you serious?"

"Of course, I'm serious, silly," Brittany place a kiss on her wife's lips. When they broke apart for air Santana placed her hand on Brittany's still perfectly toned stomach.

"I can't believe our little guy or girl is in there." Brittany beamed, pulling Santana in for another kiss.

"Babe, I'm hungry. Can we eat now?" Santana laughed.

"Of course."

As they ate their meal, Santana stopping to give Brittany dopey smiles between every bite, she was reminded of the journey of her day.

"I still don't think I understand the bracelet though."

"What do you mean?"

"Every time you give me a new charm, it's to document something so that I don't forget it. But…I seriously doubt I'm ever going to forget our child."

"For the rest of our life, San, we will have this baby. You will never forget it, because she or he will be there. We will watch our child learn to say our names, to walk, fall down, ride a bike for the first time, play sports and take dance classes, spell their long hyphenated last name and explain their two mommies, wear braces, have crushes, cry over heartbreak, and be stupidly giddy the moment they fall in love for the first time. You will never forget our child. This charm is not about all of those amazing things that we're going to experience though. It's about remembering right now, as I'm holding your hands, telling you that we are becoming a family." Santana still did not speak, just reached out to hold her wife's hand across the table. "The bracelet is about our journey, Santana. It's about the moments between us that lead us here. You will look at this charm, San, and not think about our first child, but think about this moment between _us_ when our family grew."

"I love you so much, B. I can't believe…I just can't believe we are going to have a family,"

"I love you too, San. And for the record, did you really think I was going to leave you over the bracelet?" Santana looked down bashfully. "You really are adorable, but have a little more faith in me next time," Brittany said smiling.

"I'm sorry, B, I know, you're right. I got a little crazy."

"It's ok, you're cute when you're crazy."

They finished eating and Santana insisted on doing all of the dishes while Brittany sat in the kitchen and rested because Brittany was officially no longer permitted to do any work for the next nine months.

"You know, B, today really got me thinking about our past." Santana said as she put the last of the pans on the drying rack. "I think we ought to make more of an effort to spend time with our old friends."

"I'd like that," Brittany said as she rose to wrap her hands around Santana's waist. "But tonight, I think we should spend some time celebrating just with each other." Santana turned her head to raise an eyebrow at her smirking wife. Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and started pulling her into the bedroom.

"B, are you sure this is safe? You know, with the baby and all—"

Brittany shut her up with a hard kiss that she maintained the whole way she pushed Santana into the bedroom and down onto the bed. It was going to be a long nine months.

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**A/N:** Thanks again for reading, even though I know many of you knew where it was going from the start :) Like Brittany said, it's about the _journey_, people. Anyway, there will be one more chapter after this one, and thank you all for reading and reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7: Epilogue

**A/N: **I love you all for your amazing reviews! Thank you so much!

Here's the final chapter :)

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**18 months later**

"I think he looks like Aunt B and she looks like Aunt S," Lily said, cooing over the sleeping babies.

"You're dumb. Olivia _definitely_ looks like Aunt B and Nico _definitely_ looks like Aunt S." Hannah said.

"Don't call me dumb! You're dumb," Lily said, pinching Hannah's arm.

"Ow! Mooom! Moooom."

"Whoa, I'm right here girls." Quinn looked up from her conversation with Santana. "Remember, you have to be quiet, you don't want to wake the babies. Why don't you go outside and play with Uncle Puck, he looked bored." The two girls ran off to play with Puck. It was too late though, Nico had awoken and in a few seconds brought his sister awake along with him.

"I never thought I'd say this, Q," Santana said as she picked up her son and gently rocked him against her, "but I think I may have to kill my godchildren."

"I think this is just payback for giving them extra ice cream and candy for the last six years. It's like they've built up all of that extra sugar rush and reserved it for the moment they could wake up both your infants at the same time." Santana scowled at her and Quinn let out a hearty laugh.

"Did I hear my babies?" Brittany said, popping her head in the door. She smiled when she saw Santana cradling their son. "I knew I heard an infants' crying and a very familiar baby's wrath," she said, leaning down to pick up her daughter and then giving Santana a kiss on the cheek. Both children began to calm down in their mothers' arms.

"They're naturals," Rachel said, as she wandered into the nursery. "They really are beautiful." She had to stand on her tiptoes to get a look at the infants.

"You want to hold him for a moment, Berry, while I go get the baby slings?" Rachel started laughing so hard she had to hold onto her sides for fear of exploding.

"You're honestly the last person I would have ever expected to say the words 'baby sling'," Santana glared at her. "And yes, I would love to hold him." Santana gently, and a little begrudgingly, passed off her son to her old friend while she grabbed the slings. "He's beautiful, Santana," Rachel said as she rocked the little boy who already had a thick head of dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

"I know," Santana said, a huge grin bursting into a huge grin, "he's perfect."

"I think brunch should be pretty much ready," Brittany said, as she fastened the sling around her chest and then placed the baby in it.

"Don't worry Q, they'll be plenty of bacon." Said Santana.

"Oh, fuck you, Santana. I only want bacon when I'm pregnant!" Quinn said as they walked towards the patio.

"So, you can curse around _my_ children apparently?"  
"Well, I feel that they'll hear it enough, with you as their mother."

"Low blow, Quinn. So, when are you gonna explain to your little five-year-old lesbian about artificial insemination? Because she's going to have to learn about it eventually, and I think she thinks that Brittany and I biologically produced these little angels." Santana slipped into baby talk at the end of her sentence making Rachel and Quinn laugh hysterically and Brittany just look at her wife with adoring eyes. "Oh, fuck you both." Santana said.

"Case in point." Quinn said. "Also, she's five. We have no idea if she's a lesbian or not."

"She's definitely a lesbian, Q. Sorry to break it to you." Brittany said.

Brittany, Santana, Quinn and Rachel headed to the back patio with the babies and each with a platter or bowl of food in hand.

"Everything's ready!" Brittany announced in a sing-song voice to the group who began to take their seats at the table. They passed around the food and a few pitchers of Mimosas and Bloody Mary's. Santana took note of the fact that Quinn took four pieces of bacon instead of the polite two everyone else placed on their plates. When the drinks got to her end, Puck tried to pour Santana a glass of Bloody Mary before Santana stopped him.

"What? You love Bloody Mary's."

"Not the point, Puck."

"Oh, come on, you can have one drink. It's not like you're going to drop the kid or something."

"Again, not the point."

"What? It's not like _you're_ the one breast feeding."

"Brittany can't drink, so I don't drink, simple as that. It's a solidarity thing for the shit she's put her body through."

"Ugh. You are so _boring_ these days."

"I promise, the minute we start drinking again, you will be the first one I tell. Jumbo's Clown Room?"

"Yes, Lopez. Yes. Break your sober baby time with a strip club. I love the way you think." Everyone had piled food on their plates. It wasn't a big group, but it was family. Brittany sat at the end with Santana next to her and Puck next to Santana. Mercedes and her husband were there, along with Kurt and his boyfriend of the month. Rachel sat on the other end with Lily in her lap and Quinn was next to her holding Harper and cutting Hannah's food. Mike was with his girlfriend. The only people missing were Tina and Artie, who had been living in New York, and Sam, who everyone suspected was too hungover to attend Sunday brunch since he had cancelled on brunch only an hour beforehand. Brittany raised her glass of orange juice.

"To old friends, who will always be there, as we continue our journey…" Brittany chuckled to herself. As they clinked their glasses, Santana could hear Rachel starting to hum the opening notes of Don't Stop Believin'.

"Berry. I swear to god. I may be 29 years old, and I may be married and holding one of the two most adorable infants ever born, but if you break into song and make this cheesy fest any worse than it already is, I _will_ lunge across the table and Mimosa you." Brittany grabbed her wife's pinky and squeezed tightly. "What?" Santana said, "slushies are _so _high school." The group broke out into boisterous laughter and began to eat their food.

"I love you," Brittany said.

"I love you too." Santana leaned in to give Brittany a kiss.

Mercedes nudged Quinn over Hannah's head and nodded to the end of the table where Brittany and Santana were now ignoring their food and making out."

"Some things really never change." Mercedes said. Quinn smiled and took a bite of the bacon in her hand.

"Would we want it any other way?"

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**A/N: **Ok, so I know that chapter had _nothing_ to do with the charm bracelet, but as I was finishing the previous chapter I had an idea for a Faberry/Brittana sequel and I wanted to set that up here...so I wrote this unrelated chapter. Anyway, I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and reviewing!


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